The Beginner’s Guide to Cheap Graphics Cards

GPU prices seem to have come down quite a bit since lockdowns and the height of the pandemic, but have they come down so far that you get a cheap graphics card without it feeling like a rip-off? Well, we’re going to dive into that right now.

Are graphics cards cheap yet?

Compared to how bad prices were in 2020 and 2021, graphics cards are arguably cheap (or, at least, they’ve returned to more reasonable, accurate pricing). Digital Trends has done a good job of logging GPU price drops and availability over the past two years, declaring that the shortage is over. Our colleagues in the U.S. shared similar spirits in April 2022. While Digital Trends focuses on the U.S. market, many of the observations can also be applied to Australia. And unfortunately, it’s at this point where I feel the need to reveal some of my own experiences. Back in early 2021, I bought the RTX 3060 GPU, when it valued at $AU1,000. This price was ludicrous, but I had gone six years without a GPU upgrade (and I was using a GTX 1060). Now, in 2023, the very same GPU costs $AU600, with a cheaper, smaller model available on special for $AU489, courtesy of Australian tech retailer Scorptec. On the bright side, I had a GPU then and there. On the other hand… That’s $AU500 worth of inflation, minus overtime price drops. So, because I am engaged quite a lot in watching GPU prices come down, I can quite safely say that they’re at affordable levels now. The price was high for me at the time, and now is a pretty good time to be buying a card. But which cheap graphics card makes the most sense to you?

Which cheap graphics card is the best?

If we’re after a cheap graphics card, we’re likely not going to want to spend more than $500. For that reason, it’s probably worth considering the RTX 3060 or its AMD rival, the Radeon RX 6600. Performance is fairly equal between these cards, tipping in favour of the RTX 3060 more often than not, however, you’ll often find the RX 6600 for less money. After a quick search now, the RX 6600 appears to be available for $AU369 from Scorptec, compared to the earlier mentioned RTX 3060 at $AU489. These cards are typically recognised as the best in terms of cost-to-performance. If you’re after a cheap graphics card, capable of some solid 1080p gaming at between 30-60fps (of course, depending on the game), a card like the Radeon RX 6400 might suffice (starting at around $AU300). But there are more options available, and we absolutely recommend shopping around to get the best out of what you spend. You could consider the RTX 3050, a less powerful GPU than the RTX 3060, or AMD’s Radeon RX 6500 or 6500 XT. And now that Intel’s Arc graphics card range is available, these cards are also an option, ranging from $AU449 to $AU569 in Australia (again as per Scorptec) and firmly competing as budget options. You could also get cards from the previous series, such as the RTX 20 series cards or RX 5000 series cards. These cards will lose support sooner than their newer alternatives (as they came out earlier), but you’ll find that they’re cheaper across the board.

Is the RTX 3050 worth it?

When the RTX 3050 first came out, it was panned as being not worth the cost for the performance trade-off, when the RTX 3060 (and its more powerful brother, the RTX 3060Ti) were only just more expensive. This is still largely the case, with the cheapest RTX 3050 still only about $AU70-$AU80 cheaper than the cheapest RTX 3060 (as checked on Scorptec). If you’d like to see a decent live example, Testing Games has side-by-side comparisons across several different games in this video. In my opinion, you get a worthwhile performance upgrade for the extra bit of cash.

Should I buy a cheap graphics card?

As someone who has deliberately shopped for cheap graphics cards across three different builds (the GTX 1060, the GTX 1660 and the RTX 3060) I recommend picking up a cheap card (below about $AU500) provided that it factors into the rest of your system. What that means is: if you’re getting a cheap card, you’re likely okay with less-than-ultra performance. The RTX 3060 is a terrific card, don’t get me wrong, but it doesn’t reach the soaring highs of the RTX 3070, 3080 or 3090. And for that, you’ll need to be content with a system that reflects the performance of your selected card. Research your chosen card and see what builds it works best with, factoring in RAM and the CPU. But there’s nothing wrong with buying a cheap graphics card, especially if savings are your priority.

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